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Simon
Physical Appearance He is described to be short, black-haired and dark-skinned. In the 1963 film he is pale with blonde hair, whereas in the 1990 film he has brown hair. He was created after Peterkin Gay. Character Overview Whereas Ralph and Jack stand at opposite ends of the spectrum between civilisation and savagery, Simon stands on an entirely different plane from all the other boys. Completely neutral amid the increasing strife between Jack and Ralph, Simon wants only to help the others around him without any demands or expectations of personal gain. Simon embodies a kind of innate, spiritual human goodness that is deeply connected with Nature and, in its own way, as primal as Jack’s evil. The other boys abandon moral behaviour as soon as civilization is no longer there to impose it upon them. They are not innately moral; rather, the adult world—the threat of punishment for misdeeds—has conditioned them to act morally. To an extent, even the seemingly civilized Ralph and Piggy are products of social conditioning, as we see when they participate in the hunt-dance. In Golding’s view, the human impulse toward civilization is not as deeply rooted as the human impulse toward savagery. Unlike all the other boys on the island, Simon acts morally not out of guilt or shame but because he believes in the inherent value of morality. He behaves kindly toward the littluns, and he is the first to realize the problem posed by the beast and the Lord of the Flies—that is, that the monster on the island is not a real, physical beast but rather a savagery that lurks within each human being. The sow’s head on the stake symbolizes this idea, as we see in Simon’s vision of the head speaking to him. Ultimately, this idea of the inherent evil within each human being stands as the moral conclusion and central problem of the novel. Against this idea of evil, Simon represents a contrary idea of essential human goodness. However, his brutal murder at the hands of the other boys indicates the scarcity of that good amid an overwhelming abundance of evil. Lord of the Flies: 1963 Movie X Lord of the Flies: 1990 Movie In the 1990 film, he is played by James Badge Dale. Simon in this version of the story never has any encounter with the "Lord of the Flies", and Ralph has no part in his death. Simon does not faint when the boys first gather, and rather than drawing a derisive remark from Jack for doing so, Jack makes no remarks about Simon at all. Ralph gets along with Simon, but Simon roams freely between the two camps and from the beginning of the film will disappear on his own for long periods of time. On one such occasion, well after dark, he finds Captain Benson, the airline pilot, dead in the cave where many of the boys believe "The Monster" lives. Simon takes off running for Jack's bonfire at the beach, waving a glowstick in an effort to draw attention so he can relay his discovery. Instead, Jack hysterically assumes the monster is approaching, orders his Hunters to attack, and Simon is dead before anyone realizes the mistake. Death After his encounter with "The Lord of the Flies" (which was in reality a hallucination caused by his epilepsy) He went to find the rest of the boys. Though as soon as he found them they mistook him for the beast due to his appearance being covered in mud, etc, killed him and left his corpse on the beach. Category:Deceased Category:Characters Category:Book Characters Category:1963 Movie Characters Category:1990 Movie Characters